People, Process and Technology

One point to add is that many of the programming tasks today will either be outsourced, offshored or automated by tools.  To stay relevant, we must move on to be more innovative.  It's the way the world is today.  I have a post discussing this phenomenon.

No more lamenting please.  Time to get our ass moving and moving.  People must no longer treat a job just like a source of income; to survive, we must take ownership in developing our own careers and not rely on the employers to develope it.  Only when we take full ownership of it, will we strive every means to improve and innovate on it. 

Take SWM as an example, he claims that his paymaster is NCS, but how much of his reputation today is based on work in NCS? He is a good example of people taking his career into his own hands.  I believe talents like him will have no lack of offers even if he leaves NCS.

A quote that makes a lot of sense today:
"When I was young, my parent would tell me to finish my food. People in China and India are dying of hunger. But today, now, I would tell my children to study hard, or people in China and India will be getting their jobs"
- Thomas Friedman

Cyrus Crypt wrote:

People must no longer treat a job just like a source of income; to survive, we must take ownership in developing our own careers and not rely on the employers to develope it.

The people must develop a passion for the things they do.

It's a bless to be able to do what we like (then, money is a bonus). But to many, work is simply about earning money for one's ownself or family. In situations where we presently do not have the passion, can we "consciously develop" it ??? Specifically, I'm referring to whether an organization can help it's employees on this issue..though, at the end it all depends on the individual.

domainconnect wrote:

It's a bless to be able to do what we like (then, money is a bonus). But to many, work is simply about earning money for one's ownself or family. In situations where we presently do not have the passion, can we "consciously develop" it ??? Specifically, I'm referring to whether an organization can help it's employees on this issue..though, at the end it all depends on the individual.

This is a tough question. I believe one has to 'search their feelings' in order to discover the true passion that they have for a particular work (or thing) that they will enjoy doing. Since it is an individual thing, organizations will not be able to help them.

If the mentality is set to 'work-for-money' (which is perfectly normal), then work is just work, deliver good-enough and a job is just a job. People who practice such faith are more succeptible to complains like 'pay not good enough', 'benefit not good', 'no bonus', 'no increment', etc etc and they usually don't end-up far.

Most big companies and successful people are driven by dreams and their passion to achieve those dreams. I urge everyone to watch Empire of Dreams which feature the story of George Lucas. As you mentioned, when you are powered by passion (and dreams), money is just a by-product and you may sometimes, earn more due to the extra effort (or passion) you put in to deliver your work.

In my recent change of job, I was asked by my ex-colleagues for the reason I left. "Was it because there were no increments?", "Was about no bonus?", "Was it about stability?", "Was it environment?" and they came out with all possible choices. My reply to them was simple, "No .NET".

no .NET

*ROTFLMAO*

Firedancer wrote:

Most big companies and successful people are driven by dreams and their passion to achieve those dreams. I urge everyone to watch Empire of Dreams which feature the story of George Lucas. As you mentioned, when you are powered by passion (and dreams), money is just a by-product and you may sometimes, earn more due to the extra effort (or passion) you put in to deliver your work.

Totally agreed.  People nowadays are driven by the wrong things i.e. money, status etc.

E.g. of people who did GREAT when driven by dreams and passion:
Bill Gates : "A PC in every household"
Bill Bowerman (Nike Cofounder) : "A drive to helping atheletes perform better" (he was formerly an athelete coach).
Walt Disney : "Love for fun and happiness".

Cyrus Crypt wrote:

People nowadays are driven by the wrong things i.e. money, status etc.

Nowadays? I think this has been the case since the beginning of civilisations, really. Man will typically satisfy the base needs (guess what...) before looking elsewhere for more meaning in life, and thinking about affecting other people's lives (positively).

Click Here For Some Quick Wisdom

-= Obi-Wan =-

Havent you all learn yet ? Mr. Narayana Murthy is the founder of infosys. Please note the last sentence of his speech which I have taken the liberty to produce it here.

Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons   from
Karnataka.  He is known not just for building the biggest IT empire in
India but also for his simplicity.  Almost every important dignitary
visits Infosys campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an
employee session with another IT company in India. He is incidentally,
one of the top 50 Influencial people of Asia according to an Asiaweek
publication and also the new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime   Minister.
 
Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session :
  
> I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some
> people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only
> temporary. Other people I know have put in these hours for   years. I don't
> know if they are working all these hours, but I do know  they are in
> the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are
> addicted to the workplace.
> 
> Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over
> the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization.
>  
> There are things managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit.
> Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way
> for potential errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours
> frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes
> requires their time as well as the time and energy of others.  I have
> seen people work Tuesday through Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.
>  
> As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office.
> First and foremost  is to set the example and go home ourselves.
> Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For
> instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
>  
> 1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
> 2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
> 3) Go home.
> 4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt,play
> with your kids, etc.
> 5) Eat well and sleep well.
>  
> This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2.  
> Working regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts.
> They are hard for some of us because that requires 'personal change'.  
> They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do them.
>  
> Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they don't want to
> miss anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is
> that  events will never stop happening. That is life !! Things happen 24 hours a day.
> Allowing for little rest  is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap.
> Things will happen while you're asleep, but you will have the energy
> to catch up when you wake.
> Hence...
>  
> "LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU
> NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" -- Narayana Murthy

solid speech.  I totally concur.

Softwaremaker wrote:

> "LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU > NEVER KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" -- Narayana Murthy

I'm a simplistic person - "I only love what I do".

You love what you do because you do what you love ?

If a person does not love or hate what he is doing, I'm hopeful that through some sort of motivations or enlightenments, this person can be "turned" into loving what he/she is doing :)

 

domainconnect wrote:

If a person does not love or hate what he is doing, I'm hopeful that through some sort of motivations or enlightenments, this person can be "turned" into loving what he/she is doing :)

I don't think you can motivate a person to do something that he/she does not have passion with. Even if you do, it will just be temporal.

I agree...

I have seen that happen hundreds of times...

Max to max; 2 - 3 hours....

within that time the person will realize his/her hatred again...

Is it another way of saying "love and passion cannot be nurtured"?

Or.. maybe "they can only be nurtured during childhood"

My personal take is: both love and passion can be nurtured, anytime. Yes, it's harder to do it on adult.

However, I think this can only be done with one-to-one approach (by individual leader/manager), so it's not possible to implement a policy in a company to achieve that.